Request Media Kit

Chelsea Handler’s Netflix Talk Show Is Going to Suck or Not Suck

As you probably heard, Chelsea Handler’s next talk show-hosting gig after E!’s Chelsea Lately will take place in the world of on-demand streaming – Netflix. Her new show will debut some ...
Chelsea Handler’s Netflix Talk Show Is Going to Suck or Not Suck
Written by Josh Wolford
  • As you probably heard, Chelsea Handler’s next talk show-hosting gig after E!’s Chelsea Lately will take place in the world of on-demand streaming – Netflix. Her new show will debut some time in 2016, and according to Netflix will “feature an updated format that still encompasses Chelsea’s unfiltered opinions on topical entertainment and cultural issues, as well as her signature guest interviews.”

    It’s either doomed or Netflix’s best move yet.

    From Gawker’s Chelsea Handler’s Netflix Deal Is Doomed:

    Listen, Netflix makes no sense. Binge watching is a profit-motivated delivery system that maximizes buzz and long-tail profits by leveraging American laziness and lack of willpower. Nobody loses (except for our memory of the art we have just seen). Is it the future? Absolutely. But what does the Netflix model—streaming, binge-watching, everything on-demand—have to do with Chelsea Handler’s whole thing?

    …By all means, enjoy your time with this sexy, emerging market that’s redefining disposability—that’s your brand too, it’s fine—but don’t come crying to me when you’re hosting the Tech Emmys and that Brad Wollack character won’t even take your calls anymore. I’ve seen how this ends.

    Ok then.

    Now, from Wired’s Giving Chelsea Handler a Talk Show Could Be Netflix’s Best Move Yet:

    [For Netflix], there’s no one better partner than Handler.

    Here’s why. Online talk shows, and online comedy shows in general, are everywhere and gaining traction (just ask the women of Broad City, who started on YouTube before going to Comedy Central). Second, the reigning kings of late night—Seth Meyers and The Two Jimmys—joust each night to produce segments that go viral online. There’s still a TV audience to fight for, but the real prize is landing the interview or writing the segment that gets shared around the world the next day. Why not just have an on-demand show of nothing but one-off Handler interviews and sketches that viewers can binge through a la carte?

    Just like HBO, it can let Handler say and do whatever she wants. She’s a brash comedian who gets bleeped on her E! show, but on Netflix flirting with Justin Bieber and telling boozy sex stories are fair game. And by calling her “breathtakingly honest and irreverent,” Sarandos clearly knows what he’s getting into.

    Aight.

    Thoughts?

    Image via Chelsea Handler, Instagram

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit